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Latin America
Who is the President of Colombia?
Alvaro Uribe
Which current South American President
was jailed in the early 1990s for leading a
coup against the government?
Hugo Chavez,
Venezuela
What is significant about Manta, Ecuador?
It’s has been a forward operating
location in the war against drugs
What is the largest island in the
West Indies?
Cuba
What year did the United States
give control of the Panama Canal
to Panama?
2000
Which country in Central America has
the highest standard of living?
Costa Rica
Why care about Latin America?
• It’s our closest neighbor to the south
• It’s one of our biggest trading partners and a huge
market for US goods
• Many Americans have ethnic roots in Latin America
• Every nation but one is a democracy
• … And YOU could find yourself serving there in the
future!
Overview
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Background Video
Geography
People, Culture, and Religion
Poverty in Latin America
Crime and Violence
Political Environment
U.S. Interests
Background Video
Geography
• 33 states in the region
• Vast amounts of territory with diverse
climate
• Much of region unsettled as majority of
population lives within 100 miles of the
coast, concentrated in urban areas
• Large cities grossly overpopulated
– Poses huge challenge to governments due to:
crime, poverty, unemployment, and lack of/poor
infrastructure
Two of the world’s largest cities located in Latin America: Mexico City, Mexico (27
mil) and Sao Paulo, Brazil (23 mil)
People, Culture, and Religion
• People
– Diverse population, much of whom can
trace roots to Europe and Africa
– Prior to colonial period, indigenous
groups had built vast and advanced
empires throughout region
– Aztecs and Mayans in Mexico
– Incas in western South America
– Between 25-100 million indigenous
people lived in Latin America when
Spanish arrived in the fifteenth century
People, Culture, and Religion
• People
– From fifteenth century on, divided into areas of
Spanish, Portuguese, British, and French control
– When indigenous population began dying off,
slaves were brought from Africa
– Caste system established, but Europeans and
Native Americans intermingled, forming a large
mestizo population
– Immigration continues and we’ve seen a large
increase in Asian immigrants
People, Culture, and Religion
• Ethnic Diversity
Bolivia
7.5 million people
European
N. Amer.
Mestizo
5%
70%
25%
Columbia
34.9 million people
African
European
Mestizo
Mulatto
N. Amer.
Other
4%
20%
58%
14%
1%
3%
Mexico
90.4 million people
European
Mestizo
N. Amer.
Other
9%
60%
30%
1%
* SCIS, 1996 figures
People, Culture, and Religion
• Culture
– Blending of many distinct cultures affected
Latin American society, i.e. music, dance,
language, and religion
• Language: Spanish is predominant, but you’ll also
hear Portuguese, French, indigenous (i.e.
Quechua), and Italian
• Similarly, dances influenced by African culture
(i.e., the rumba, mambo, and salsa)
People, Culture, and Religion
• Characteristics of Latin
Americans
– Machismo
– Marianismo
– Family
– Attitude towards work,
leisure, and time
Note: We’re not trying to stereotype Latin Americans, but we are trying to help students
understand common, general characteristics of foreign cultures.
People, Culture, and Religion
• Religion
– Prevailing religion is Roman
Catholicism, with 90+% of Latin
Americans professing this faith
– Catholic church influences nearly
all aspects of Latin American life
(i.e. Our Lady of Guadalupe)
– Great mosaic of other faiths, with
Islam being one of the fastest
growing in region
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Poverty in Latin America
• Regional Economy
– Overall, the economy has improved, although
significant issues of inequalities and social
exclusion
– GDP growth above 4% annually since 2004
– Inflation fell to single digits 8% in 2008
– Marginally lower unemployment
– Increase in foreign investments
• But while the region as a whole is improving, some
countries’ economies have worsened
Poverty in Latin America
• Latin America is one of the most unequal and
impoverished regions of the world
– Nearly 1 in 4 lives on less than $2 daily
– 44% of the region’s 515 million inhabitants live in
poverty
– 18.6% of total population classified as extremely poor
– Rural population even more profoundly affected as
almost 55% are poor and nearly 33% are classified as
extremely poor
• Poverty rates double those of Middle East!
Poverty in Latin America
• High economic disparities
– The richest 10% in region earned 48% of the
total income, while the poorest 10% earned less
than 2% (2003)
– Brazil: The poorest 40% of landowners possess
only 1% of the country’s arable land, and nearly
4.6 mil peasants own no land
• Social inequality largely based on race and
ethnic background
– Brazil: People of African descent earn only 45%
of the wages of their white counterparts
Poverty in Latin America
• Root causes
– Historic disadvantage in global economy
– Industrialization discouraged or banned during
colonial period
– Rural underdevelopment
– Government failures or instability
– Lack of infrastructure
– Ethnic discrimination
While economic growth is necessary for poverty reduction, poverty
is hindering this much needed regional growth. (World Bank)
Poverty in Latin America
• Why should the United
States care?
– Affects American
economy by reducing
trade
– Exacerbates issue of illegal
immigration
– Contributes to flow of
illegal drugs into USA
As long as the crushing poverty exists, people will resort to whatever
means are necessary to survive, including producing illegal drugs.
Crime and Violence
• Region leads the world in most crime and
violence categories
– Homicide rate three times the average for the rest
of the world
– Accounts for 75% of the world’s kidnappings
– Brazil has three times murder rate of USA
Lynching, murder, assault, and kidnapping are all on the rise,
especially in El Salvador and Guatemala, which are listed by the
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) among the five most
violent countries in the world.
Crime and Violence
• Crime closely linked with gang violence
– Some of the most violent gangs in the Western
Hemisphere operate in Central America and
Mexico
– 60% of all homicides in El Salvador gang related
(2004)
– U.S. Southern Command estimates there are
70,000 gang members operating in region
Crime and Violence
• Latin America’s decrepit
democracies are easy prey
– Court systems barely function in
most countries
– Police are often corrupt and
uncooperative
– Politicians easily bribed
– Paramilitary positions perceived
as opportunities for self
enrichment
Crime and Violence
• “Latin America’s per capita GDP would be
25% higher if the region’s crime rate were
equal to the world’s average.”
• “Business associations in the region
identified crime as the number one issue
negatively affecting trade and investment in
Latin America.”
~ Adolfo Franco, Assistant Administrator for Latin
America and the Caribbean U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID)
Crime and Violence
• What’s causing the high crime rates?
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Extreme inequalities
Rapid, large scale urbanization
No supporting infrastructure
Police abuse, and inefficacy
Corruption
Exclusion and lack opportunity for youth
Easy access to guns, drugs and alcohol
Crime will continue to thrive in Latin America when the rule of law is
weak, economic opportunity is scare, and there is limited to no education.
Crime and Violence
• Why should the USA care?
• Widespread corruption affects crime levels, at
a minimum affecting global drug trafficking
• Crime played a crucial role in the breakdown
of democracy in inter-war Europe… is Latin
America at risk too?
• Rule of law impacts the state of democracy
– To control a seemingly unruly populace,
governments may gradually resort to brutalization
or repression
Political Environment
• Despite authoritarian tendencies, democratic
principles aren’t new to Latin America
• Most countries in the region established
representative governments shortly after
winning their independence in the nineteenth
century, but…
• Many judiciaries and political
parties are weak and discredited
Political Environment
• Why does this matter?
– Without legitimate government structures in place,
impoverished citizens receive little government
support in addressing needs
– 20% of government funds earmarked for spending
are lost to corruption
– 10% of the region’s GDP is lost each year to
corruption
* Source, Inter-American Development Bank
Political Environment
• Best thought of as a pendulum
swinging between democracy
and authoritarian rule:
– End of WWII, five became
democratic, but only one democratic
government survived
– 1950s - 1960s, coups toppled several regimes
– By 1975 only 3 nations were democratically
elected
– By mid-1990s, all were democratically elected
except Cuba
Political Environment
• Some countries are more democratic than
others and Latin American democracy is not
always the same as the USA
• Democratic approaches employed in Latin
America:
– Liberal Democracy
– Social Welfare
Democracy
– Quasi Democracy
Political Environment
• Liberal Democracy
– Offers representative government and protection of
individual rights
• Social Welfare Democracy
– Liberally democratic state taking on major
responsibility for reducing poverty and inequality
• Quasi Democracy
– Regarded as an authoritarian-corporatist state
Political Environment
• Challenges to Democracies
– Economics
• Uneven distribution of wealth
• Inability to deliver basic services (i.e. water, sewage,
roads, etc.)
• Widespread poverty
• Weak administrative capacity
– Many officials come to office with little or no
understanding of how to administer a country
Political Environment
• Challenges to Democracies (cont’d.)
– Anti-democratic opposition
• Military coups
• Drug traffickers
• Guerilla insurgents
Political Environment
• Challenges to Democracies (cont’d.)
– Military coups
– Haiti in 1991
– Venezuela in 1992 and 2001
– Ecuador in 2000
• Drug traffickers
Colombian Drug Lord
– Common in countries like Colombia & Bolivia
– Bribe or threaten police and elected officials to
escape prosecution
Political Environment
• Challenges to Democracies (cont’d.)
– Guerilla movements
• Often starts in response to inequality and
repression
• Includes:
– Shining Path in Peru
– FARC in Colombia
– ELN (National Liberation Army)
in Colombia
Pablo Beltran, ELN leader
Political Environment
• Populism
– All of these problems are causing many in Latin
America to lose their faith in democracy
– Many are turning to left-leaning politicians or
populists
• Populism is a political philosophy
– Focuses on needs of common people
– Advocates a more equitable
distribution of wealth and power
Political Environment
• Populism (cont’d.)
– “55% of the people polled in Latin America said they
would support the replacement of a democratic
government with an authoritarian one; 58% agreed that
leaders should ‘go beyond the law’ if they have to and
56% said they felt that economic development was more
important than maintaining democracy.”
~ New York Times, 2004
• Populist leaders are increasingly getting elected
throughout Latin America… and the pendulum is
beginning to move away from democracy.
U.S. Interests
• Trade and investments
– Region is promising market for USA exports
– Many leaders stake their political survival on their
open-market reforms
– Tools USA can use to help bolster democratization
in the region
• Drug trafficking
– Arguably, the central issue in our relations as
almost the entire global supply of cocaine comes
from Latin America
U.S. Interests
• Immigration
– Hispanic/Latino population is the largest and
fastest growing minority in the United States
– Pew Institute research says that there are almost
12 million illegal immigrants in the United
States—59% are Mexican
• Cuba
– “We were eyeball to eyeball, and the other
fellow just blinked.”
– Cold War animosity between the United States
and Cuba remains
Summary
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Background Video
Geography
People, Culture, and Religion
Poverty in Latin America
Crime and Violence
Political Environment
U.S. Interests
Questions?
• Student Presentations